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Clinical Nurse Specialist Major

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Clinical Nurse Specialist

21 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
368 Master's Degrees Annually
#11 in Popularity
$75,510 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many clinical nurse specialist graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level Number of Grads
Master’s Degree 307
Graduate Certificate 19
Bachelor’s Degree 9
Doctor’s Degree 5

What Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, clinical nurse specialist majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in clinical nurse specialist should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

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  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  • Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors

clinical nurse specialist majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

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  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors

As a clinical nurse specialist major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

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  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Clinical Nurse Specialist Major?

People with a clinical nurse specialist degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Clinical Nurse Specialists 14.8% $71,730
Nursing Instructors and Professors 24.0% $73,490
Registered Nurses 14.8% $71,730

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Nurse Specialist?

9 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
100% Percent Women
22% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of clinical nurse specialist majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 0
Black or African American 1
Hispanic or Latino 0
White 7
International Students 0
Other Races/Ethnicities 1

How Much Do Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Clinical Nurse Specialist majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $75,510 to $81,350 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Clinical Nurse Specialist Major  ( 75510 to 81350 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some degrees associated with clinical nurse specialist may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for clinical nurse specialist careers below.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Some College Courses 4.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 26.3%
Bachelor’s Degree 11.0%
Master’s Degree 41.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. 2.8%
Doctoral Degree 13.5%
Post-Doctoral Training 2.3%

Online Clinical Nurse Specialist Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 0 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 0 0
Bachelor’s Degree 5 3
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 26 3
Post-Master’s 20 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 3 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 3 1
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 1 1

Is a Degree in Clinical Nurse Specialist Worth It?

The median salary for a clinical nurse specialist grad is $75,510 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 89% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $712,200 after 20 years!

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Explore Major by State

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to clinical nurse specialist.

Major Number of Grads
Registered Nursing 262,974
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,647
Nursing Practice 8,862
Nursing Administration 8,663
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 4,717
Nursing Science 4,701
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,895
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,075
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 2,011
Nurse Anesthetist 1,768
Critical Care Nursing 747
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 622
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 567
School Nursing 539
Clinical Nurse Leader 502
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 269
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing 262
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 192
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 87
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 26
Forensic Nursing 23
Palliative Care Nursing 13

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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